Presenting Lorelai Gilmore
by Flash Foreward
Summary: What if Chris had bailed on Rory's coming out? And what if Luke came to the rescue? An alternate path for the episode "Presenting Lorelai Gilmore" One shot!


**A/N:** I've always sort of thought that Luke should have presented Rory in "Presenting Lorelai Gilmore", so this is my "What if?" for that episode. Inspired by a contest on another site.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls

**Presenting Lorelai Gilmore**

The ballroom was more than a little intimidating, and Lorelai watched her daughter take in the fancy tables and the last minute checks, cringing inside as she thought back to when she was almost in Rory's place.

"Wow, this place is huge," Rory said as she took it all in. "Do I have to walk down those stairs?" she added, pointing to the staircase across from them.

"Oh, I'm afraid so. Unless you wanna make a really memorable entrance and just sliiide down the banister," Lorelai joked. "Which I totally encourage, by the way." Rory shook her head and they both returned to surveying the room, until a woman with a clipboard rushed up to them.

"You are…," the woman began, trailing off.

"Lorelai Gilmore," Rory replied.

"Late," the woman corrected. Lorelai glanced at Rory, fighting her amusement, then returned her attention to the woman before them.

"Sorry, my fault," she said, fighting the urge to wink at Rory. "Took me awhile to get pretty. Not all of us are sixteen anymore, you know what I mean? No." The woman only stared at her for a moment, then turned to Rory.

"You are to head up the stairs. The preparation room is on the right," she explained, Rory nodded.

"Look for the toxic cloud of Chanel and Final Net," Lorelai whispered before Rory began to walk away. She watched her daughter head for the stairs, a small smile on her face. Rory turned back and Lorelai quickly mouthed "Sliiide," bringing a smile to her daughter's face.

Rory disappeared up the stairs and Lorelai looked around, wondering where her mother and father could be. She knew they were both around somewhere, and she tried to think of the most likely place to more easily avoid a run in. She wandered a bit as she pondered, doing her best to stay out of the way of rushing people, and as she reached the other side of the room her cell phone played loudly from inside her purse.

She quickly dug around, ignoring the looks of annoyance that were cast her way, and pulled the small phone out. She flipped it open, pressing it to her ear and leaning against a table.

"Hello?" she said, running the fingers of her free hand over the flowers in the center of the table.

_"Hey, Lor," _it was Chris. Lorelai's hand dropped to the table.

"Chris, where are you?" she asked. "Shouldn't you, you know, be here by now? Getting ready to present your daughter to society?"

_"I'm sorry, Lor, I can't make it,"_ he said and Lorelai groaned. _"Something came up at work and I have to get back to Boston…"_

"Christopher," Lorelai said warningly, trying to disguise her own disappointment as she thought of telling Rory that her father wouldn't be there. "This is your daughter's cotillion. You promised."

_"I'll make it up to you,"_ was all he said before hanging up. Lorelai lowered her hand to the table, staring at the phone, trying to think of something to do. Her fingers were flying over the numbers before she could think and soon the phone was back to her ear.

_"Hello?"_ came the gruff voice on the other end and Lorelai heaved a sigh of relief.

"Luke, I need help," she said, fighting tears. She knew better than to count on Christopher for anything.

_"What is it?" _the worry in Luke's voice didn't help as she struggled to keep her composure.

"Christopher cancelled," she said, her voice choking. "And we're here and Rory's excited and…she has no one to present her."

_"I'll be right there."_

"Luke no, you don't have to do that. You don't even have a tux."

_"There's one in the closet. Dad wore it for some event or other. I can't promise that it's in great condition, but I know its there."_

"You don't have to do this," Lorelai whispered, pulling lightly at her pony-tail.

_"It means a lot to Rory, right?"_

"Well, yeah, but…what about the diner?"

_"I'll close up, or I'll leave Jess in charge…Jess,"_ his voice fell at the last word. _"I can't leave him alone, Lorelai, who knows what trouble he'll get himself into,"_ he said. Silence fell over the line, and Lorelai thought over every possible option before sighing and giving Luke a reply.

"Bring him," she said. "I'll keep an eye on him."

_"Are you sure?"_ Luke queried uncertainly.

"If you're sure about coming, then yes," Lorelai replied.

_"I'll be there soon."_

Lorelai smiled as she hung up, glad to have found a solution. She glanced around the room, berating herself for relying on Christopher yet again, and her eyes fell on her mother standing across from her, glaring angrily at the flower arrangements. Lorelai sighed.

She crossed the room quickly, coming to her mother's side.

"Hi, Mom," she said.

"Lorelai," Emily replied, sharply.

"Hey, could you cover for me? I've got to go tell Rory something," Lorelai joked, earning herself a disparaging look. She sighed. "Never mind, I'll be right back," she said and turned away. She rushed up the stairs and quickly found the preparation room, filled with girls in white dresses.

Rory sat off to the side, a book in her lap. Lorelai smiled and walked over to her, setting a hand on her shoulder to draw her attention.

"Hey, Mom!" she said, quickly book marking her page with a finger and wrapping her arms around Lorelai's neck in a quick hug. "What's going on? Why're you up here?" she asked when she released her mother. Lorelai forced a smile.

"There's been a problem," she began, Rory's face fell.

"It's Dad, isn't it?" she asked. "He's not coming." Lorelai nodded though the last part was not a question. She crouched down by Rory's side and wrapped a hand around the one that wasn't holding place in a book.

"It's okay," she said, but Rory shook her head and quickly butted in.

"It isn't okay," she said. "I can't come out without my dad!" Lorelai glanced up at Rory's face, and she felt a pang of guilt at the sight of the hurt in her daughter's eyes.

"Luke's coming," she said.

"Luke?" Rory asked, disbelief in her voice. "Luke is not my father."

"I know-"

"How did you even get him to agree?" Rory continued, cutting off her mother's responses. "No, wait, why did you even ask him?"

"I didn't," Lorelai said quickly, silencing Rory. "I called him because…Chris cancelled and I didn't know what to do, and I told him what happened and he said he was coming. I didn't ask him."

"Does Luke even have a tux?" Rory queried after a moment of silence. Lorelai laughed.

"He says his father had one for some event," she replied. "It's probably all wrinkled and stained."

Rory smiled and nodded and Lorelai pulled her into a hug.

"You'd better go keep an eye out for him," Rory said. "Don't want Grandma to see him first."

"True," Lorelai said, standing as an announcement rang through the building calling for the fathers of the debutants.

"Thanks, Mom," Rory called after her, and Lorelai smiled. She found her way downstairs quickly, and caught sight of Luke and Jess standing awkwardly by a door. She stopped in her tracks, admiring the well pressed and clean tuxedo Luke Danes wore.

It took her a moment to compose herself, but soon she was walking purposefully across the room. She tapped Luke on the shoulder when she reached him, glancing at Jess, who wore a regular suit. Luke turned to face her and smiled nervously at her.

"Hey, you even shaved," she said.

"Yup," he replied. Lorelai smiled.

"Thanks for this," she said.

"Don't mention it," he said. "Now, where are the fathers supposed to be? I just heard them call for us...well, not us, but...," Lorelai nodded sharply and took his hand.

"Come on, Debutant staging area," she said, pulling him behind her and back upstairs. Rory had beat them there and was straightening Dean's tie when the arrived.

"Dean says I look like a cotton ball," Rory said as Lorelai stopped next to her, fake-panting.

"Hi, Luke," Dean muttered awkwardly. "Wait…who's he?" he added, nodding behind Luke. Lorelai glanced behind her to see that Jess had followed them upstairs.

"Dean," Rory said quickly. "This is Jess, Luke's nephew."

"What's he doing here?" Dean asked, his tone sharp.

"Didn't you hear? "They're replacing the fathers _and_ the boyfriends," Jess replied. Dean glared at him, but Rory quickly tugged at his wrist.

"Hey, you better get downstairs, mister," she said. He smiled and kissed her lightly before heading back downstairs, brushing past Jess as he went.

"What is he doing here?" Rory whispered to Lorelai as she positioned Luke and explained to him what to do.

"He needs constant supervision, couldn't you tell?" Lorelai joked, kissing Rory's cheek. She glanced at Luke and smiled, once again admiring his tux. "You look good."

"Thanks," he replied.

"I'm gonna go get us a table," Lorelai said. She kissed Rory again and, with a pointed look at Jess, led him back downstairs.

"You do kind of look like a cotton ball," Luke whispered as Lorelai and Jess left. Rory laughed at the nervousness in his voice.

"Yes, but a cute cotton ball, no?" she replied. He nodded and smiled down at her. "I guess this is a first for both of us," she added, glancing at the line in front of her.

"I think it's a first for _all_ of us," he said. "Except your grandparents, anyway." Rory laughed.

"Good point."

It wasn't long before the line was moving, and even less time passed, it seemed, before Rory was almost to the front of the line.

"Hey, Luke," she said as she waited for the girl before her to go.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Don't let me fall."

"Not a chance."

"Thanks."

They stood in silence and Rory glanced behind her, straining her ears against the names coming over the microphone.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"Just a second," Rory replied. She rushed down the stairs, looking into every room she passed, and found the one she was looking for. Her mother stood between her grandparents, looking dumbfounded. Rory sighed.

"Um, excuse me," she said, drawing there attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm next." With that announcement, she rushed back up and made it back to Luke's side just as Elizabeth Dotie was being presented.

"What was that?" Luke whispered as they stepped forward.

"Just a minor, last minute difficulty," Rory replied. "Fixed now."

"Lorelai Gilmore," came the announcer's voice, and Luke and Rory started down the stairs. "Daughter of Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore."

"Thanks Luke," Rory whispered as he bowed and kissed her hand, he smiled and walked away, leaving her to curtsey to the crowd.

"Did you _see_ my mother's face when you came down the stairs?" Lorelai asked excitedly as she, Rory, Dean, Luke, and Jess made their way towards Luke's.

"Obviously I didn't, I was on the stairs," Luke replied.

"I still can't believe Dad bailed like that," Rory muttered, leaning into Dean as they walked.

"Would a burger cheer you up?" Lorelai asked, nodding to the diner.

"Of course," Rory replied. Lorelai laughed and Luke shook his head.

"Don't you want to change first?" he asked. "So you don't spill anything on your dress?"

"Nah," Lorelai replied, laughing. "She'll just button up her jacket."

"Well, I'd like to change," Dean said as they stopped outside Luke's. He kissed Rory on the top of the head and she smiled up at him.

"Thanks again for going with me," she said.

"Tomorrow, you start paying," he replied. "Bye, Lorelai, Luke, Jess," he added before heading off down the road.

"What's he gonna make you do?" Jess asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Play quarter back on his fantasy football team?"

"Jess," Luke said warningly as he unlocked the diner.

"Just some honest curiosity, Uncle Luke," Jess retorted. He pushed past his Uncle and headed up the stairs behind the counter. Luke sighed.

"I guess you want those burgers," he said as Lorelai and Rory sat at the table nearest them.

"Well, I suppose you can change first," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes, Rory laughed.

"Doesn't matter, I'll make them," he said, disappearing behind the counter.

"So, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," Lorelai said. "How does it feel to be a proper lady?"

"It feels good," Rory replied. "Hold on," she said. She stood and headed up to the counter, leaning against it and craning to see back into the kitchen. "Hey, Luke," she called out.

"Yup?" he asked, reappearing.

"Thanks," she said. "For everything."

"No problem, Kiddo," he said, smiling. Rory nodded and returned to the table. Lorelai caught Luke's eye before he disappeared back into the kitchen and smiled. He smiled back and turned away.

"You looked good tonight, sweetie," Lorelai whispered.

"Except the fan dance," Rory corrected. "I am never, ever doing that, or a curtsey, again."

"You are entitled," Lorelai replied.

"Two burgers, on the house," Luke announced, rounding the counter and setting the plates down. "Don't get any on your dresses," he added, warningly.

"Uh, mom…," Rory whispered, her burgher half-way to her mouth. She pointed to the stairs that lead to Luke's apartment. Lorelai and Luke both turned to see Jess appear, in a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a baseball cap shoved backwards on his head.

"If it makes you feel any better, Luke," Lorelai said, "he doesn't look half as good in it as you."

"Thanks," Luke muttered, turning back to the table.

"No," Lorelai said through a mouthful of burger. She swallowed before continuing. "Thank you."

"No problem," Luke said. "I have to…," he added, pointing at Jess, who was meticulously wiping down the already clean counter.

"Go," Lorelai replied. "We'll eat."


End file.
